NBA Coach and Player, Sam Vincent, Named CES Academy's Director of Basketball Operations

COCOA, Fla. - Sept. 7, 2017 - PRLog -- CES Academy would like to welcome NBA coach and player, Sam Vincent as Director of Basketball Operations. Coach Vincent has over 20 years of successful international sports program development, management, and coaching experience.

Sam Vincent began his basketball career while growing up in Lansing, Michigan, where he was the first to be honored with the State of Michigan's distinct title of "Mr. Basketball" as a senior at Lansing Eastern High School in 1981. He then attended Michigan State University, where he was named team MVP from 1983-1985, and was awarded The Sporting News All-America honors in 1985. Sam Vincent was then selected in the first round by the Boston Celtics in 1985 and helped the Celtics win an NBA Championship in his rookie year, which was followed up with another appearance in the NBA Finals the following year. After playing one more season with the Celtics, Sam Vincent joined the Seattle Super Sonics for part of the 1987-88 season. He was then traded to the Chicago Bulls helping them to the NBA Playoffs and the next season to the Eastern Conference Finals. He finished his playing career with the Orlando Magic where he was chosen in the expansion draft. Sam averaged 7.8 points per game and 3.9 assists per game during his NBA career.

After retiring from the NBA, Sam worked for Disney's Wide World of Sports where he recruited major sporting events for the Orlando, Florida, area. However, Sam wanted to get back into the game he loved, as a coach. He was hired for his first coaching job in 1996 with the Cape Town Kings in South Africa and stayed with them for three seasons. With that experience, Coach Vincent became the head coach for the Men's and Women's South African Senior National Teams. In 1999, he then coached in Larissa, Greece, with the Greek A-2 Men's Basketball League and then Den Bosch, Netherlands, with the A-1 Dutch League. Coach Vincent continued to sharpen his skills as a coach and became the head coach of the Nigerian women's national team in 2003, in which they won their first FIBA Africa Championship, earning a spot at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. As coach of the Nigerian men's national basketball team, he lead them to a bronze in the 2005 FIBA Africa Championship and a surprise win over Serbia and Montenegro in the FIBA World Championships in 2006.

After his success overseas, Coach Vincent (https://cesacademy.org/sam-vincent-bio/) returned to the NBA as an assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks during the 2006-2007 season. He was then selected by friend and former teammate Michael Jordan to be the head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats for the 2007-2008 season.

During Coach Vincent's coaching career, he continued to be involved with community programs, such as Basketball Without Borders. He is also founded The Global Coach Foundation (http://globalcoachinternational.com/), which is focused on developing youth and communities through international basketball programs.

Coach Vincent has dedicated his life to the betterment of youth around the world through academic, athletic, and social life skills development, perfectly matching the core values of CES Academy. CES Academy is proud to have such an esteemed sports icon heading our Basketball Academy (https://cesacademy.org/athletics/basketball/) in Cocoa, Florida.